


Missing

by sam80853



Category: due South
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-15
Updated: 2011-01-15
Packaged: 2017-10-14 19:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/152480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sam80853/pseuds/sam80853
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ray was kidnapped and buried alive. Time is ticking for Fraser to find his friend in time...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Missing

Walking to… he doesn’t know he can’t see anything at all. The ground beneath him is uneven and bumpy. There’re noises around him but he can’t identify them.

His foot gets stuck somewhere and suddenly there is no ground anymore.

He’s falling and on his way down he changes into Ray who is screaming his name in despair.

"Fraserrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

Fraser wakes up with sweat all over his body and his own screamed name on his lips. He doesn’t know if he is the one who has just screamed or if it was just Ray in his dream.

His heart beats like a drum and he feels a little dizzy – the dream is barely an echo in his head now but an uneasy feeling is with him when he gets up and ready for work.

He is waiting for his friend and partner in front of the Canadian Consulate where he lives since his apartment building was burned down and his whole world was turned upside down – not for the first time.

When his life changed for the first time he was just a little boy, 6 years old, when his mother was killed; he lost both his parents on that day. His father just went away, away from his son who needed him more than he would ever know, leaving him with his grandparents, away from his memories of his beloved wife till he was killed himself, leaving Fraser all alone in this world. And again his life was taken out of his own hands when he brought his father’s murderer to justice and they threw him out of his homeland. But something good came out of it. Even if he had to live in Chicago now, he had a real friend: Ray Vecchio.

He should have known that his luck wouldn’t last long. Victoria came back into his life and she almost destroyed everything he had and is. He betrayed himself and even worse his only friend. But he survived and mostly because of Ray. He felt good for a while, even if he missed his home. And so he went on vacation – back where he always wanted to be – and when he returned everything was different again and he had to find his place in this world again.

Fraser shifts uneasy from one foot to the other – normally he would never do something like that but this morning feels kind of odd. Something is different like he forgot or lost something, which is ridiculous! He wouldn’t say he never forgets anything but… it’s most unlikely. And since he calls very little his own there is nothing to get lost really.

Even Ray is late to pick him up today.

Ray – he can still hear Ray screaming his name.

Just once his friend’s voice had sounded like in his dream: when he burst through the door of the Consulate, calling Fraser’s name as he fell on his knees in need of his help.

Diefenbaker whines by his side and Fraser looks down at him, shaking his head.

"Don’t be ridiculous Diefenbaker! I think Ray is perfectly well and no," he says just before his half wolf can start an argument "we won’t take a cab. You know perfectly well the taxi company’s policy concerning wolves."

~::~::~

Fraser has just arrived at the 27th and for the first time ever nobody seems to notice him like he woke up this morning being invisible.

Not that he would complain about it – quite the opposite – but it’s odd and Fraser takes a look around.

Nobody.

Huey and Dewey are talking with each other, obviously about a case they are disagreeing about. A few perps are handcuffed to their chairs, looking bored and not a bit concerned. There is even a woman among them who Fraser would say from her appearance was a working woman on the street – but he could be wrong: appearance can be deceiving.

He gets nothing, not one glance.

Not even Francesca who’s usually right in his personal space as soon as she catches sight of him, making him uneasy and a little embarrassed, seems not to see him.

Fraser rubs nervously his eyebrow but decides to be glad to go unnoticed.

Ray’s desk is deserted like he thought it would be when he didn’t see his partner’s GTO in the parking lot.

He takes a look at Ray’s organized chaos, hoping to find a note or even a new case file that would tell him where his friend might be.

Nothing.

A shiver runs up his spine, a cold shiver; not the pleasant shiver he always feels when Ray is smiling at him.

Something is terribly wrong here and his hands are shaking slightly – again something he never noticed happening to him before.

Fraser approaches Frannie who is talking to someone on the phone at her desk. When she becomes aware of him she puts her hand over the receiver, smiling brightly.

"Oh hi, Fraze," she says. "Didn’t know you where here already" she looks a little annoyed at the phone receiver in her hand, as though the person at the other end is preventing her from making a move on Fraser.

"So I see," Fraser smiles politely, "You haven’t seen Ray, have you?"

"Ray?" She takes a look around like she doesn’t know whom he is talking about.

A familiar feeling rushed over Fraser and settles on the bottom of his stomach.

"Yes, Ray Vecchio. The detective," he says like she wouldn’t know her own brother or at least the person who pretends to be her brother at the moment.

"No," she shakes her head. "Didn´t see him." Then. "Yes! Yes. I’m still here" she rolls her eyes, pointing at the phone. "Sorry!" To Fraser again.

"Thank you, Francesca," he rubs his eyebrow again followed by a crack of his neck while he returns to Ray’s desk, picking up the phone himself.

Ray’s voice but not Ray himself is telling him to spill his gut on his answering machine.

"Ray?" Fraser calls a little louder than usual with a little tremor in his voice he can’t suppress.

"Ray? It’s Fraser," but he doesn’t get an answer like his friend isn’t really there or sleeping pretty deep, which he doubts.

"Constable!" Lt. Welsh calls and Fraser hangs up the phone, entering the Lieutenant’s office.

Welsh is just looking at him like he is preparing to say something that would hurt Fraser. Again that familiar feeling of loss and abandonment.

"Sir," he begins, not being able to be patient anymore. "There wouldn’t be another undercover mission involving Detective Vecchio, wouldn’t there?" Fraser asks, preparing himself to get hurt again.

He doesn’t know how he will manage if he loses his friend again. Why is it always men called Ray who keep him sane here in Chicago.

The one thing Fraser knows right now is that losing his current partner and friend would be more devastating than the loss of his former partner. Not that he didn’t like Ray Vecchio, but this new Ray is important in a way the old one could never have been.

"What are you talking about Constable?" Welsh looks confused.

"I thought… maybe… there is…"

Welsh just waits for him to find the right words.

"Detective Vecchio’s absence seems to… I concluded that perhaps he might be…"

"Constable!"

"Yes, Sir?"

"I don’t know where Vecchio is. This isn’t about Vecchio."

"Ah, I see." He rubs his eyebrow. "Why did you want to talk to me then?"

"The Inspector called. Something about a dress and a cleaner?" he looks suspiciously at Fraser.

"Ah. Thank you Sir!" He forces a smile.

"Anything wrong, Constable?"

"No, not that I’m aware of."

"Well then, you can go now."

"Thank you sir. Again."

He just closed the door when he almost run into Assistant State Attorney Stella Kowalski who is looking at him like he has no right to be here at the station at all.

"Ms Kowalski," he greets her, forcing a smile.

Fraser never liked that woman, which is really unusual for him. Not that he likes everybody but with her it’s different. The way she treats Ray makes him want to strangle her and it almost seems like she is feeling the same way about him.

She looks him up and down.

"Fraser, right?" She asks like she doesn’t know her ex-husband’s partner’s name.

"Yes, Ma´am."

She nods her head trying to walk around him.

"May I ask you a question?" He says before he thought it through.

If Ray was with her last night he would rather not know but…

She looks at him, waiting.

"You wouldn’t happen to know where Ray might be?"

"No," she answers and enters Lt. Welsh’s office, almost slamming the door in his face.

Fraser rubs his eyebrow in irritation.

Was his question inappropriate?

He shakes his head deciding that he doesn’t have time to think about Stella’s behaviour.  
Again he approaches Frannie who is polishing her fingernails right now.

"Ray didn’t call, did he?"

"Not a word," she says, getting up and coming around her desk to stand close to Fraser, looking at him with puppy eyes.

"Thank you kindly." Fraser backs away quickly, not giving her time to lay a hand on him.

Since Ray never was a thoughtless person – not letting anybody knows where he is going – Fraser and Diefenbaker are on their way to Ray’s apartment.

They have to walk because Fraser’s has no car and it is always Ray who’s giving them a ride wherever they have to go.

Ray.

There has to be something wrong, Fraser can feel it and when he opens up Ray’s apartment door with his spare key that Ray has given him to water his plants that he doesn’t have and feed his turtles that he HAS, when he is out of town, which he rarely is. Ray is not there.

Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary.

Nobody forced an entrance. No traces of a fight or anything to suggest Ray didn’t leave of his own free will.

Leave.

Fraser has never thought about of Ray leaving – him, Chicago, everything. Not without a word.

No, he shakes his head.

Ray would never do such a thing to him, ever.

Fraser starts looking around, desperate to find anything that may tell him where his friend is.

Carefully he opens up Ray’s bedroom door. Not that he thinks Ray is sleeping but a bedroom is a very private place and he would never want to violate Ray’s privacy.

The bed is unmade and Fraser can’t resist touching the sheets. They are cold now so he can’t tell if Ray has slept here last night but it smells like Ray and he can picture him laying here - his head on the pillow, his body stretched out under the sheets…

A soft moan escapes Fraser’s throat and he flushes.

As he realizes what he’s doing he yanks his hand away like it was burned.

He has to find Ray not fantasise what he would like to do with him in that bed of his.

Fraser looks closer around, concentrating at the task at hand and just a second before Dief barks something catches his… nose. Yes, there is a smell somewhere that doesn’t belong in Ray’s bedroom.

Under the bed he finds a piece of cloth that was soaked in chloroform.

Relieve rushes over him – Ray didn’t leave him - then it hits him that someone has taken Ray away from him, someone who may hurt him.

Rage rises inside of Fraser – rage he never has felt in his life before, not even when his father was killed and he had faced his murderer.

He tries to swallow the rage but fails.

Panic of losing someone he cares about again makes his heart ache. What is wrong with him that everybody he cares about, he loves, gets hurt even dies?

His mother, his father and now Ray.

No, not Ray!

Fraser knows he would never survive if anything happened to Ray. His heart would just fall apart and nobody can live without a heart.

He shakes his head; he can’t allow himself to think that way not if there is a chance to find Ray, alive.

Fraser starts searching again, suppressing his feelings. He doesn’t find anything besides the cloth soaked in chloroform.

Finally he presses the play button on Ray’s answering machine to hear if someone beside him has called Ray.

"I’m cold, Fraser!" He hears Ray’s voice calling his name and his heart stops beating for a second.

He fells to his knees while Ray’s words are spinning inside his head, over and over again.

What does it mean?

Fraser can’t think straight, he can barely breathe and his hands are shaking.

~::~::~

Panic rises inside of Ray and he is close to losing control, his breath is erratic, near hyperventilation.

Stop it!

He tries to calm down.

Stop it!

Finally his breath is down to an almost normal level and he investigates his surroundings. Not that there is much to investigate – it’s dark and cold and he can barely move like he is inside a box or something.

A box.

Ray’s finger touches cloth all around him and he’s petrified with horror. He starts beating against his cage.

A casket. He is buried in a casket.

Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!

The worst nightmare anyone can have is coming true for him: buried alive!

Ray beats even harder against his cage, screaming in despair till he’s sweating and his lungs hurt like hell. Tears are streaming down his face. This can’t be happening! It can’t!

"Fraser," he whispers and even more tears are filling his eyes.

He sobs until there’re no tears anymore and he tries to get in control of himself again.

This will get him nowhere. He has to think. What would Fraser do?

Thinking about his friend calms him down a little. If there is anyone in this world who could find him it’s Fraser.

But he’s buried deep in the ground for all he knows. Panic rises again. … No one is going to find him here!

"Fraser! Fraser! Fraser!" Ray whispers over and over again like a mantra that keeps him sane.

With Fraser’s image in his head he is able to investigate further, finding a small air tank on his left side.

So, they want him to stay alive for a while. But who? Who would do something like this to him? Or is it about Fraser?

~::~::~

Fraser doesn’t know for how long he has been kneeling in Ray’s apartment, cold shivers running down his spine while Dief whines by his side.

He has never felt so alone in his whole life.

For now he doesn’t even know what happened to Ray, why he was taken but deep down inside of him he knows that his friend’s life depends on him. If he fails Ray will die.

He is up in a second. He has wasted enough time already kneeling on the ground doing nothing.

Fraser shakes his head to clear his mind. He has to think fast but his mind seems to refuse to work properly. He can’t think what he should do now.

Blank.

Like his ability to think, his ability to get going disappeared with Ray.

Fraser growls in frustration then grabs the tape from Ray’s answering machine and heads out.

He doesn’t even know where he’s going until he reaches the 27th again. Maybe a few of his brain cells are working after all.

Without getting noticed he is at Ray’s desk again just in time to pick up the phone as it rings.

Fraser just opens his mouth to speak when he hears Ray’s voice again.

"It’s dark, Fraser!"

The phone slips out of his hand, crashing on the desk.

"Constable? Constable!"

It takes what feels like hours for him to recognize the voice and even longer to get his eyes to look at the person in front of him.

Lt. Welsh.

He blinks, not able to speak.

"Is there a problem, Constable? Constable!"

"Ray is gone," Fraser manages to whisper.

"In my office! NOW!" Welsh almost screams in his face and Fraser is finally able to move again.

Slowly he gets up and follows the Lieutenant.

"What is this crap about Vecchio being gone, Constable?" Welsh’s voice is still loud like he knows that only his commanding tone will get through to Fraser.

And he is right.

Even if Fraser doesn’t know what to do he certainly knows how to follow orders and so he starts talking; telling the Lieutenant everything he has discovered until now.

"Have a seat," Welsh whispers as Fraser is finished.

"I would rather stand."

The Lieutenant shakes his head, looking at Fraser like he wants Fraser to come up with a solution to this problem for him.

But Fraser’s mind is still blank like there is nothing useful left up there. Except Ray’s voice telling him he is in the dark.

~::~::~

Ray doesn’t know for how long he has been buried. It could be an hour or 3 days, No, that could not be because he would be dead by then.

Panic keeps rushing over him every minute leaving him sweating and desperate. Thinking about Fraser still keeps him from falling apart completely even if his conscious mind keeps telling him that his friend would never find him here.

Fraser may be a Mountie, a Super-Mountie, but even his abilities have their limits and this here would be his limit.

Ray tries not to imagine how Fraser would look when he is informed of Ray’s death. Would he be angry with himself that he couldn’t save his friend or would he just shut the world out trying to forget and to keep going even more damaged than before he met Ray?

Fraser has faced too many losses already and Ray would do anything to spare him his death.

Ray just wishes that he had told his friend how he feels about him, that there is someone who cares about him, who loves him with all his heart. Fraser needs someone who loves him. He never got enough love in his life and Ray would like to be the one who shows Fraser how beautiful love can really be – not just pain.

Again tears start to stream down his face as he thinks about Fraser’s beautiful face marked with pain over the loss of his friend. He would be alone again – something Ray had promised to himself to never let happen to Fraser. He would not let him down like so many people before him.

"No! No! No! No fucking way…" Ray starts whispering, fighting against his panic and his feeling of giving up.

He would not let this happen; he has a promise to keep – no way he’s going to die here!

~::~::~

"Constable?!" Lt. Welsh is looking at Fraser, still waiting for a suggestion.

"Sir?" Fraser knows he should say something meaningful like he always does but there is nothing that comes to his mind.

´I’m cold, Fraser! It’s dark, Fraser!´ is all he can think about.

"Since you've searched Vecchio's apartment already we should take a look at his cases."

Fraser just nods his head in agreement.

"Francesca!" A Welsh scream as he opens up his office door and Frannie comes running. "Vecchio’s files. NOW!"

"You really could be…," she starts complaining about Welsh’s command tone when the Lt. screams again.

"NOW!"

"Okay, okay," she backs off to get the files for them.

Fraser just takes a seat, staring down at the files that Frannie had laid at Ray’s desk a second ago, touching them slowly.

Could the answer to Ray’s disappearance be right in front of him?

"Constable?"

Welsh touches Fraser’s shoulder to get his attention.

"Detective Huey and Dewey could work on this case," Welsh gently suggests.

"No," Fraser tries to pull himself together. "No Sir! I’ll do it." His voice is stronger now and Welsh just nods his head.

"I’ll order a search for Vecchio and the GOAT!" The Lieutenant says, returning to his office.

Fraser nods while he opens the first of the files.

He tries to focus on the report in front of him and finally the words start to make sense to him like his ability to think is returning while he has something to do.

Three hours later everything is a blur. Fraser’s eyes hurt from all his reading and there is still no progress.

He knows these cases inside out, he had worked with Ray on them and he almost remembers every detail. There is no tie-in to Ray’s kidnapping but Ray had worked undercover for a long time and maybe he is going to find something in Ray Kowalski’s files.

~::~::~

The worst thing – aside from being buried alive – is that Ray can barely move a muscle. And so just his mind keeps wandering, that is actually the worst thing, so cancel the not moving thing, and he almost wishes that Fraser were here with him. At least his friend could tell him how much air is left in the casket. Leave it to the Mountie to tell you how long you’ll survive in something like this.

Math is a mystery to Ray, it always was and maybe it’s a good thing right now, not knowing how long he would be able to breathe. And math leads him to love somehow – there were only two people in his life he really loved – so you don’t really need to count how poor that is. Just two!

First his ex-wife Stella he met at the age of 12 and loved for over 15 years ‘till she decided that she didn’t want him anymore and then his Mountie partner with the gift to put his life in danger in wildly bizarre ways.

Thinking about Fraser again makes his eyes water. Despite his promise to not give up he can’t do anything against his gut feeling of dying here.

"No! No! No!" He shakes his head, refuses to think that way.

There has to be something he can do, even just figuring out what had happened to him, who did this to him.

He doesn’t remember much, he was drugged but… yes… there was a voice telling him to speak lines on a tape. That’s it!

"I’m cold, Fraser! It’s dark, Fraser!" Ray whispers, a single tear streams down his cheek. If he is going to die here these words will haunt his friend for the rest of his life he is sure of it.

More lines… "Can’t move, can’t breathe, please help me!"

Ray shakes his head violently.

Stop!

Memories about a very old case float through his mind and his breath becomes erratic again.

Calm down! Calm down!

~::~::~

"Where is Ray, Constable?" Fraser is startled for a second as The Stella suddenly stands at Ray’s desk looking down on him.

"He seems to be absent." Fraser takes a look around like he is expecting Ray’s return at any moment but Stella is not buying it. Fraser’s bloodshot and worried eyes are giving him away.

"He seems to be…" she repeats annoyed. "You know I’m his ex-wife and I have a right to know if something happened to Ray," she says in her best attorney voice.

Fraser wants to scream right in her face that she has lost all her rights when she had left Ray but he knows how much his friend still cares for his ex-wife and he sighs.

"There might be the possibility…" he shakes his head. This wasn’t the right way to tell her what happened Fraser, he decides. "Considering the evidence it’s likely that Ray…" No, that isn’t the right way either.

In spite of Fraser’s disliking of Stella he doesn’t really want to hurt or shock her.

"Constable!" Her voice is still commanding and Fraser just can’t help spitting it out.

"Ray is missing."

Stella’s face falls, going pale like a sheet in a hospital.

"Missing?" Her voice is small now, filled with concern for her ex-husband and immediately Fraser regrets being so blunt.

"I’m afraid so, yes." He avoids her eyes, just looks at the files in front of him.

She doesn’t say another word, just turns on her heels and walks into Lt. Welsh’ office again.

Diefenbaker who is lying just under Ray’s desk comes up and looks at Fraser.

"No, she isn’t angry with you," he assures the wolf. "She is just worried about Ray’s well being."

Dief whines a little, laying his head in Fraser’s lap.

"She cares about him," he explains and Dief makes a little noise. "No, probably not the same way we do but…" He stops as Ray’s phone rings again.

Fraser’s heart starts pounding hard as he slowly picks up the receiver, not trying to say anything, just concentrating on not dropping it.

"I can’t move, Fraser!" Ray’s voice demands and Fraser almost loses control over himself again.

He takes a deep breath, holding the phone receiver in a death grip like he could connect with Ray this way and starts whispering.

"I know, Ray. I’m sorry. Hold on! Please!"

He doesn’t know for how long he talks like this when he feels Dief’s wet nose against the palm of his hand and with a final "Please" he lets go of the phone. Fraser pats Dief’s head, finding comfort in his friend’s presence.

"We are going to find him, Dief!"

~::~::~

Ray clearly remembers this case, it was the worst he had ever worked on. No matter what, Perry Matthews was the most evil of all evil.

There were five victims at least – Ray is still pretty sure that there were a lot more they don’t know about.

All buried alive, dead when they found them. A real nightmare. For the victims, their families and friends as well as for the police.

Ray really doesn’t want to think about the victims right now, what they were going through ‘till the end. They were all dead like he might be in a few hours…

He catches his breath, tries to suppress his tears… Dead. He would be dead in a few hours. Never able to tell Fraser what he means to him, never hear Fraser’s voice again, and see his beautiful face…

Stop it! Stop it!

Stella!

Hope rises inside of Ray.

Stella knows everything about Matthews; she was with him when he almost broke down because of this case.

But Fraser and his ex-wife don’t get along very well. It’s kind of odd when he thinks about it. All women are crazy about the Mountie, flinging themselves at him, except Stella. And his so polite Mountie goes even stiffer around Stella - they seem to be matter and anti-matter.

"Tell her, Fraser! Don’t argue with her or be stubborn, just listen to her. She might be my only chance. Brainstorm! Please, Fraser!" He whispers again and again, hoping that his friend would get his message someway, somehow

He and Fraser have a special connection – it was there right from the start and maybe…

"Please, Fraser!"

~::~::~

Lt. Welsh must have given Stella all the information, because when Welsh calls Fraser into his office, Stella whispers a name. "Perry Matthews."

Her voice sounds hollow like bad memories are floating through her mind right now.

Suddenly her head comes up.

"Check if he’s still in prison," she says to Welsh. "He has to be."

"Who is Perry Matthews?" Fraser wants to know.

He is certain that he never heard that name before nor has Ray has mentioned him.

"It was almost 15 years ago", Stella says, recalling the event inside her head. "Ray was a freshman at the time… This case was… horrible. People missing, buried alive…" her voice breaks, she swallows hard. "Ray solved this case by accident, really… all these messages… messages like Constable Fraser got," she’s looking at Fraser now. "… clues to their families or closest friends…."

Fraser hears only half of what Stella is saying. All he can think about is Ray in a casket. Alive. How horrible that must be and an almost silly thought crosses his mind. Ray would not be able to move. Ray with all his energy who never seems to be still for a second would not be able to move at all.

And it’s then that Francesca storms in with shocked and teary eyes.

"Ray says that he can’t breathe, Fraser," she whispers, looking at Fraser, not knowing what’s going on.

"Francesca", Welsh says but she isn’t looking at him.

"Fraser?"

There are no words he can offer her. His whole body screams in pain. They’re running out of time.

"Oh my god," she claps her hand over her mouth, tears streaming down her face. She is getting the picture just by looking at all the faces around her.

"I’m sorry" is all Fraser can manage, barely able to suppress his own tears.

"Oh my god! Oh my god," Frannie whispers again and again, grabbing Fraser by his serge, burying her face against his chest. And Fraser’s hands come up, running along her back to give her comfort that he so desperately needs himself.

"People!" Welsh makes himself known, breaking that sad tension around his office. "We have a case to solve."

Fraser with Frannie in his arms just nods his head and Stella picks up the phone getting the information about Perry Matthews’ whereabouts.

"He escaped two days ago," Stella says, putting down the phone again and Welsh starts cursing about not letting people know about such things.

"Frannie?" Welsh calls and she wipes away her tears, looking at him. "We need all you can get about Matthews."

She nods, leaving Fraser’s embrace and the office.

~::~::~

Ray uses that small air tank by his side for a little while now, knowing he’s running out of time.

His whole body is covered in sweat from his panic attacks that float through him regularly as much as he wants to prevent them. It’s hot inside the casket now and Ray’s thirsty like never before in his life.

Dehydration.

But he guesses he would die from lack of air first.

"C’mon, Fraser," he whispers, but not demanding. He knows that his friend will do anything in his power to find him.

He is exhausted, weak and sleep seems to be a good idea right now but Ray is afraid he will never wake up again.

His mind is still running overtime. Where would he start looking if Matthews had kidnapped Fraser instead of himself?

~::~:~

Fraser studies Matthews file and feels sick just reading about him.

An ordinary man to his neighbours, an undertaker who buried people alive, not just destroying the lives of his victims but their families and friends.

And he is going to be one of his victims, knowing that he will hear Ray’s pleading voice every day for the rest of his life.

It would become unbearable and at the end he would…

"Fraser?"

Frannie’s uncertain voice stops his train of thoughts and he looks up at her.

"You gonna be alright?"

He slowly shakes his head.

"No."

She seems to be surprised by his honest answer but Fraser won’t pretend to be all right  
anymore when his whole life might come to an end with Ray’s death.

"He’s depending on you," she says and those are the wrong words to say to him right now. Fraser goes even paler in front of her, a haunted look upon his face.

Frannie is by his side in a second, her hands on his shoulders but not just to touch but connect with him. Right now nothing is more important to her than giving support and comfort.

Fraser gives in for a minute, feeling Frannie’s concern for him and for Ray.

"You have to be strong," she whispers and Fraser nods his head, pulling himself together.

"Do you have the information?"

"Yes. 26."

26\. There are 26 cemeteries in Chicago.

How is he going to find the right one?

~::~::~

Sleep.

Just closing his eyes for a second, to relax.

Shutting out the world around him that’s causing him so much pain right now. Not thinking anymore, just sleeping.

It becomes harder and harder for Ray not to give in, to just close his eyes and forget.

"Fraser."

His voice is filled with sorrow, not for himself but his friend who has to live with all this pain.

"Don’t be mad," he says like Fraser is going to hear him.

Hope is the thing that dies last, he thinks before closing his eyes.

~::~::~

Fraser is reading the list of cemeteries in front of him over and over again.

Fairmount Hills Inc  
Mt Greenwood Cemetery Assn.  
Irving Park Cemetery

There is just no way to check all of them in time – when one word catches his eyes.

HOPE.

Mt. Hope Cemetery.

A little tingle runs through his body and his heart stops beating for a second.

"Ray!" he whispers.

Fraser is up from his seat and in Lt. Welsh’s office within a second, Diefenbaker right on his heels.

"Mt. Hope Cemetery," he says. "That’s where Ray is."

Welsh doesn’t ask any questions, just yells commands through the station, getting everyone moving.

~::~::~

It’s already dark outside as they drive through the streets of Chicago – Welsh, Frannie, Stella, Diefenbaker and Fraser.

Every other cop in Chicago checks out the 25 cemeteries left, just in case.

45 minutes from Central Chicago to Mt. Hope Cemetery, 45 minutes that seems to be an eternity.

Everyone is lost in his own thoughts.

What if I’m wrong, Fraser keeps asking himself over and over again. Ray is the one in this partnership who goes on instinct not him. He is all logic, driving his partner nuts  
with it.

But reading this one word was like hearing Ray, telling him where to look.

~::~::~

Ray is drifting in and out of consciousness. He is not able to fight anymore.

Telling from that taste in his mouth he’s running out of air. His air tank would be empty in a few minutes and...

Noises. There are scratching noises from above but his eyelids are heavy and he just has no strength left anymore.

~::~::~

Fraser’s arms burn from digging but there is no way he’s going to wait for Welsh and a blade. If Ray is really buried here like Diefenbaker insists, he has to get to him fast.

"Hold on! Hold on!"

He digs with Dief by his side, just concentrating at the task at hand, not thinking of what he might find or Stella’s and Frannie’s voices around him.

"Blades!"

Welsh is back, passing every one of them a tool and they start digging together. It takes them far too long, Fraser thinks when they finally come across a casket.

5 pairs of eyes are looking at each other for a second.

"Ray!" Stella suddenly screams and Welsh has to grip her arm to hold her back from the hole.

Frannie takes Stella away from Welsh while Fraser jumps right into the hole, standing above the coffin now.

"Ray! Ray!" Stella keeps whispering, holding on to Frannie who looks frightened at Fraser.

With shaking hands Fraser grabs the cover of the casket, open it up and his heart stops beating.

Ray is lying in front of him, a little air tank in a deathly grip, his eyes closed.

"Ray?" Fraser whispers. "Ray!"

~::~::~

Voices.

There are voices around him, but Ray can’t quite make them out. Everything is just a blur and it’s so hard to concentrate, to open his eyes.

Movement.

He is moving but… no, he’s got no control over his body, so someone else is moving him and Ray’s heart starts beating fast. Blood rushes through his veins and suddenly he can make out some noises.

There. It sounds like Welsh calling for an ambulance and police sirens and Stella crying. But where is Fraser?

Ray listens hard; he knows Fraser’s voice would be soft and gentle.

Nothing.

He just wants to hear that one voice before giving in to the blackness completely. Fraser has to be close to him, he can feel his touch. Even if Fraser has never really touched him before he knows for certain that hands on his face are Fraser’s, it has to be ‘cause his whole body tingles.

But all he could hear is Stella and as much as he appreciated her concern, right now he wants to scream to her to shut up. He doesn’t need her anymore. He needs that other voice that lovely, gentle voice of Fraser’s.

He’s moved again and doors are slammed shut and suddenly there’re just foreign noises and Ray gives in to the blackness.

~::~::~

Fraser just looks after the ambulance, lost. He can still feel Ray’s heartbeat underneath his searching hand, a feeling more beautiful than any on earth.

Ray is alive.

He, Fraser, was right and he did not miss his chance to talk to Ray, to tell him that he’s the most important person in his life.

"Fraser?" It’s Francesca who obviously doesn’t know how to talk to him from the shakiness in her voice.

"He is alive," Fraser says like she wouldn’t know.

"Yes, he is." She affirms.

Fraser just nods his head, not knowing what he should do now that he has found his friend.

"C’mon, Frase," Frannie grabs him gently by his arm. "You’d better get over to the hospital." And she almost drags him towards Welsh’s car.

~::~::~

It’s comfortably warm where he is now, not as hot as before and he feels safe like there is someone watching over him.

Fraser.

Ray opens his eyes and he immediately looks at someone, his head resting on the right side of his bed. Familiar dark hair even if he hadn’t seen it in quite this way before.

A smile crosses his lips and he reaches out for his friend.

"Lemme hear your voice," Ray whispers, touching Fraser’s hand, feeling his way up to Fraser’s face. He lifts up his head from the bed, looking at him with sleepy eyes.

Ray touches Fraser’s eyes, his nose and cheek like a blind man.

"Thought I would never see your face again," he whispers again. "Beautiful, so damn beautiful…"

"Ray!" Fraser’s voice breaks while Ray’s hand rests on his neck pulling him gently closer.

Their eyes lock.

"You tell me when to stop," Ray says still looking in Fraser’s eyes that widen in surprise.

Fraser slightly shakes his head like it would never come to his mind to resist.

"You sure?"

There are no words for Fraser, none at all. Just Ray’s eyes telling him what he so desperately wanted to know.

 

The End


End file.
